Ask John: What’s the Best Way to Recommend Anime to a New Fan?

Question:
I have a friend who recently asked me to recommend some anime for him to watch since he knows I am an avid watcher. His entertainment interests are pretty mainstream, and he knows nothing about anime beyond Pokemon. What do you typically recommend to a new viewer in this day and age? Do you go classic? Pick something recent and popular in the West? Or do you take a chance and show them your personal faves? I would love to bring him into the fold, but I just don’t know what to choose for a good first impression.

Answer:
Otaku tend to enjoy particular anime for a multitude of individual reasons. What attracts one viewer to a particular anime may not be what appeals to another fan of the same show. Recommending particular anime largely hinges upon knowing who the recommendation is for. The universal Studio Ghibli movies are always an easy recommendation because anyone that doesn’t enjoy films such as Totoro, Nausicaa, Laputa, or Kiki’s Delivery Service is likely fundamentally opposed to 2D animation and will never appreciate any anime. Awareness of the potential viewer’s age, gender, genre interests, attention span, and appreciation for art all unconsciously influence the person choosing titles to suggest. Thankfully, these days, recommending entry anime is much easier than ever before. These days, my advice is to suggest that a curious fan visit websites including Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Daisuki, and AnimeSols to see what looks appealing. Once a novice viewer has selected a few potential titles that he or she thinks look interesting, a more knowledgeable otaku or fan can easily narrow down that selection, identifying which titles are good and which don’t quite live up to expectations or which don’t create a very positive first impression of anime. Rather than recommend what you think a new fan may like, let the new fan make his or her own initial choices, then use your own experience to provide guiding advice. Remember that first impressions vary by viewer, not by show. Typical fans may instinctively assume that a widely panned fan-service-heavy title like Queen’s Blade or High School DxD may not be an ideal introduction to anime. But for a novice viewer that already enjoys exploitation and risque cinema, a title like Queen’s Blade may be the ideal introductory anime to capture interest.